Credit Card Update

In my previous post about credit cards I talked about how the Fidelity card was the one card everyone should have. In addition to this card people should look for ways to continually improve on their situation. One of the best options to improve upon the 2% base offered by Fidelity was to use the Sallie Mae MasterCard, which offered 5% cash back at grocery stores, gas stations, and bookstores (which included Amazon). In December, Sallie Mae sent out a letter notifying their card holders of changes to their cards agreements, which would take place at the end of February. The new benefits include 2% cash back on grocery and utilities payments and 1% of everything else.

Basically the new Commence by Sallie Mae MasterCard is an inferior choice for optimum credit card efficiency.

This change has driven me to reevaluate all credit card options available. This post is summary of my findings and the path I choose.

As with all credit card discussions, none of this matters if you don’t pay your balance in full.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: EVALUATE YOUR SPENDING

Prior to looking into the various credit card options I collected every transaction my household has had in the past year and grouped them into categories (grocery store, gas station, and restaurant). The purpose of this is to identify the size of the opportunity in those various categories. Once you’ve identified a few categories that show the most promise you can begin looking for a few credit cards that can help you reduce your expenses.
Without a clear understanding of where your money is going it will be very difficult to correctly identify opportunities for improvement by using credit cards.

While evaluating my household spending several categories popped out that were high compared to others. In addition to being high value targets the spending was also eligible for credit card spending. When you graph the category totals you’ll find that you get a graph like the one shown below. For example, your rent maybe a high value target for cost reduction, but you can’t pay your rent with credit cards because it is against the terms of the agreement. The categories and optimal card I identified are listed below.

In the grocery category I identified the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card. This card does require a $95 dollar annual fee. In order to calculate if this is a good choice you’ll need to know your annual spending in the grocery category. The American Express card offers 6% cash back on spending at grocery stores. This is a 4% difference between the American Express card and the base line Fidelity option. This means you need to have at least $2,375.00 in grocery store spending before you should consider applying for American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card ($2,375.00*4%=$95.00).

Citi offers a credit card called the Costco Anywhere Visa. The perks for the card are 4% cash back at gas stations, 3% at restaurant, and 2% at Costco. The main drawback of the card is that it requires a Costco membership. If you already have a membership this card should be a slam-dunk, but otherwise you’ll need to consider that your spending in the categories of gas, restaurant, and Costco must overcome the base 2% cash back from Fidelity and cover the cost of membership generally $55 dollars. To check that multiply your annual gas station spending by 2%, your annual restaurant spending by 1%, and your annual Costco spending by 2%. Add those together if that number is greater than $55 then you can justify getting the Costco Anywhere Visa

Amazon now offers its own branded credit card for people who are prime members. Our household has a prime membership. I’ll be honest I’m always on the fence on whether is worth it. The 2 day shipping and streaming video selection have kept me on-board for the past 3 years and I anticipate we will continue to see value from the service. If you want to try it out please use my link for a free 30 day trial. The Amazon credit card simply offers 5% cash back on all items purchased from Amazon.

Please share your credit card strategy in the comments!

Just a reminder I am not compensated for any credit card recommendations here. I am an affiliate with Amazon and am compensated a small amount for each sale made by someone who uses my link. If you would like to do me a favor copy this link into your favorites and use it to navigate to amazon. http://amzn.to/2klSyPo

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